Fierce in the Schools: Conversations that Heal

This past Saturday, December 14th, 2013, marked the one year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, in Newton, Connecticut.

As the airwaves and newspapers filled with stories about those who were lost and their surviving loved ones, I had this strong urge to pull back. I wanted to retreat from having conversations about or, reading, or listening to anything that dealt with this tragic and senseless incident.

And yet, to do so gives away so much of the power I have over the situation. By making the conversation about Sandy Hook smaller, we make all the possibilities for healing smaller. And when I leaned in, what I learned is that many of the families of the victims are doing it– they’re having the conversation, every day, one conversation at a time, and they’re healing.

In our Fierce in the Schools (FITS) division, the commitment is to work with educators and their students to build the social and emotional skills needed to traverse this complex world we live in. Instead of choosing to just not talk about it, the schools we work with choose to empower themselves - to tap into both their heads and their hearts - and have the conversation, every day, one conversation at a time for as long as it takes.

Our commitment as a company is to keep the conversation going; to help school systems see the impact when their students engage with not only their emotions but the emotions of others. We want to listen, to be authentic, and to have the courage to speak up when your gut tells you to. This commitment is in the hope that this next generation, the generation of the young victims who were lost, will have the adeptness, awareness, and courage to tackle the tough challenges this world sometimes give us.